What is the central idea of william blake "the school boy"

The speaker of the poem is a young boy who's at school in the summer. He can't focus in class because he wants so badly to play outside and enjoy the weather; he feels like a songbird trapped in a cage. Towards the poem's end, the boy wonders how children can grow and thrive if they are not allowed to enjoy the summer.

Explanation:

“The School Boy” is a poem included in William Blake’s collection Songs of Innocence. It is told from the perspective of a young boy going to school on a summer day. The boy loves summer mornings, but to have to go to school when the weather is so nice is a misery to him. He sits at his desk in boredom and cannot pay one iota of attention to the lesson, so desperately does he wish to be playing outside. In the fourth verse, the speaker asks, “How can the bird that is born for joy / Sit in a cage and sing?” Here the poet is comparing young children, so full of energy and happiness, to songbirds, who deserve to tumble free and soar on the winds. But, like songbirds trapped in a cage, children trapped in a classroom cannot express themselves, cannot capitalize on all that excess energy, and therefore their potential is being wasted.

The speaker addresses parents in the final two verses, asking how, “…if buds are nipped / …and if the tender plants are stripped / of their joy...How shall…the summer fruits appear?” That is, if children are stripped of their ability to play and have fun in the summer season, how shall they grow and develop to the fullest extent?

This poem is about allowing children to be children – to run and play outside, to experience the benefits of nature and of the seasons. This practice is equally as beneficial to them as academic learning, and in times such as those in the poem, arguably more so, for on this beautiful summer day the speaker can pay no attention to his lessons – he would rather be outside.

‘The School Boy’, in one of William Blake’s

famous poems and it focuses on a subject that is

often close to his heart: the life of children, and

particularly the unjust ways in which they are

treated by society.

Explanation:

The main theme is the sorrow that the boy feels

having to go to school, when he wants to enjoy

summer. He has the obligation to go up a close

space, but he wants to go outside. Another theme

is nature, the freedom that it represents for the

boy and the oppression of the class.

the following key ideas correctly express the key sentence.

restate key idea: most people can learn to swim in ten short lessons.

restate key idea: the majority of water-accident victims require mouth-to-mouth breathing.

restate key idea: an empty, tightly closed gallon jug will support a tired swimmer.  

restate key idea: first aid is to prevent accidents as well as assist in rescue.

explanation: the key idea needs to have the same topic as the key sentence (drowning and safety).